I’ve written two articles now on how I recovered fully from debilitating postpartum sexual pain (read Part 1 here and Part 2 here). Pelvic floor physical therapy was the backbone of my recovery. It’s not just for painful sex, though. A hypertonic (too-tight), dysfunctional pelvic floor can cause everything from intercourse pain to incontinence to chronic UTIs to organ prolapse.

If you have any kind of pain or dysfunction in your pelvic region, pelvic physical therapy might be able to help. For me, they were downright miraculous.

(FYI, your “pelvic floor” is the many layers of muscle that form the “bottom” of your body, stretching across your pelvic opening, holding up your organs, and controlling your orifices.)

Today, I’m sharing what pelvic floor physical therapy is like. It can sound mysterious and vaguely horrifying. Let me take away some of that mystery and horror!

I received two kinds of pelvic floor PT–pelvic floor biofeedback by a skilled technician and internal pelvic floor physical therapy from a well-trained physical therapist. (If you read my last post, you saw that the all-important second piece to my recovery puzzle was the daily physical-therapy-at-home work I did, but I’ll have to discuss all of that another day.)

When your conscious mind gets this information, you have the opportunity to connect certain sensations or feelings in the body with the live readings you see. Then you can learn to alter those readings and the physiological processes that produce them.

For example, a heart rate monitor can be used as a biofeedback device. It’s giving you real-time information (feedback) about what’s happening in your body (bio). In the case of your heart rate, you are already consciously aware of it on some level (you generally know your heart’s pounding or beating slowly), but you do not perceive slight variations or consciously control it. Your nervous system does that without your conscious mind’s interference, thankyouverymuch.

Yet, you can learn to influence your heart rate. Really! Practice watching your heart rate monitor and trying to alter your pulse. You’ll notice, perhaps, that your pulse tends to slow on the exhale and that certain feelings in the body coincide with the slower heart rate. In time you’ll learn how to re-create those feelings in your body and reduce your heart rate at will. Try it. (This comes in very handy when you’re nervous and the doctor wants to take your pulse. He may then be impressed and say, “You must be a runner!” And you just smile serenely.)

If you missed yesterday’s post, Part 1 (complete with a poem!), click here. Now, onward to the sunrise!

It’s Called Pelvic Pain

After re-reading Katy Bowman’s blog post on internal physical therapy, I spent hours online trying to find resources. Umpteen search terms later (no, “internal physical therapy” didn’t work), I finally ran across the term “pelvic pain.” That was the key. “Pelvic pain” opened up a Google gold mine. While I didn’t come across any happy endings like the one I’m writing now, I finally found the Pelvic Health & Physical Therapy Center in Houston, Texas.

I also discovered that millions of women are out there suffering with pelvic pain of one kind or another, much of it painful intercourse. This kind of pain does not always start after pregnancy and birth either; sometimes it’s spontaneous. (Sobering tidbit: The physical therapists told me that large studies have now demonstrated a link between hormonal birth control [e.g., the Pill] and spontaneous pelvic pain, and that they’ve seen this correlation in their own practice. That’s scary given the number of women out there using these forms of birth control.)

What the Physical Therapists Said

I gathered my courage and booked a first appointment with the PH&PTC, a 2.5 hour ordeal. I filled out reams of paperwork in excruciating detail about my most private experiences. I signed consent forms acknowledging that treatment could be painful. On the big day, I was so sick with shame and fear that I almost threw up in the waiting room. I excused myself to the bathroom and used an emotional acupressure technique to calm down (similar to the TAT but better for out-and-about emergency situations; I’ll share it later in the Healing for Life series). [Edited: Here’s the tapping technique I used.] Whew!

The nurse practitioner who governs the practice sat me down for a talk. What a relief. She talks to women just like me all day, every day–and helps them too. Kleenex abounded, and I took full advantage of them. My pain levels were a 10. My fears about the future were a 10. My sexual frustration was a 10.

The NP very compassionately listened to my history and my doctor’s conclusions, how I was feeling, the kind of support I had, and then shared her thoughts. She said that nerve entrapment was the least common cause of my symptoms, that she had some strong suspicions about what was really going on, and told me that I’d be working with a biofeedback specialist as well as one of their physical therapists.

You know that best friend you secretly love but don’t introduce to your other friends because you’re completely embarrassed you like her? No? Okay, same here. I tend to like my friends and not feel ashamed of them.

Until now. Now, I am head-over-heels in love with. . . <gulp> I don’t know if I can do this. You have to promise not to judge me. Pinky swear?

I’m in love with my Squatty Potty.

Friends and blog readers, meet Squatty Potty.

Image from SquattyPotty.com

Squatty Potty, don’t say anything.

Now comes the part where we all smile pleasantly as I skirt the elephant in the room. Squatty Potty has the following admirable qualities:

Made of bamboo, an environmentally-friendly and aesthetically-pleasing material

Oh. You mean you want to know why I love Squatty Potty? You want to know what Squatty Potty does? Fine. Just fine. As they say on the Squatty Potty website, I’ll cast aside the taboo of potty talk and break the silence. You made me do it.